Jakarta – Two rebels were killed and two wounded when some 100 members of the separatist Free Papua Movement attacked a police outpost on Wednesday in Indonesia's easternmost province of Irian Jaya, a report said.

Police reinforced by soldiers drove off the separatists who attacked the post at Kimaam in the southern district of Merauke, Irian Jaya deputy police chief Brigadier General Raziman Tarigan told the Antara news agency.

He said police had been tipped off that the Kimaam police post was a target and called in military reinforcments.

The two wounded rebels are in hospital under strict guard. The Merauke district police could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Free Papua Movement, made up of small, poorly-armed groups spread across the vast resource-rich province, has been fighting for a free state since the 1960s.Jakarta has ruled out independence but approved a new autonomy package last month in efforts to head off pressure for independence.

The province will be renamed Papua and will get a larger shares of revenues from its natural resources when the legislation takes effect on December 22. Pro-independence campaigners have already rejected autonomy, saying people want independence.